Sam Rossman Setting Norms in the Classroom Any animal can be trained to perform a certain task. If a trainer slips the animal a biscuit every time it does a desired behavior the animal will perform the desired behavior more often. What the trainer cannot teach the animal is how to solve new problems. That is where humans and animals differ. I think the ultimate goal as a teacher is not to train students to mimic desired behavior but to learn, and to think and problem solve. I feel it matters more if I student learns how to think about a problem and learns how to problem solve than if they can regurgitate a process. Math class should encourage students to break their mental set. This often occurs in groups. When students work in groups they often have a synergistic effect on one another. One student might think of a part of how to solve a problem which will lead another student to think a little differently and in turn figure out one aspect of the problem themselves. Students become better

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